Gene Barry

Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass, June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City (1952) and The War of The Worlds (1953) and for his portrayal of the title characters in the TV series Bat Masterson and Burke's Law, among many roles.
Early life
Barry was born Eugene Klass on June 14, 1919, in New York City, the son of Eva (née Conn) and Martin Klass; all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Barry grew up in Brooklyn and attended New Utrecht High School. Barry exhibited early artistic skills with singing and playing violin as a child and later spent two years at the Chatham Square School of Music in Greenwich Village on a scholarship awarded for his vocal ability.
Career
Barry chose his professional name in honor of John Barrymore and made his Broadway debut as Captain Paul Duval in the 1942 revival of Sigmund Romberg's The New Moon. He later portrayed Falke in Rosalinda (1942), Nova Kovich in The Merry Widow (1943), Lieutenant Bunin in Catherine Was Great (1944), Dorante and Comte De Chateau-Gaillard in The Would-Be Gentleman (1946), The Doctor in Happy as Larry (1950), and played a variety of roles in the musical revue Bless You All (1950).
In 1950 Barry began appearing on television with the NBC Television Opera Theatre. In 1955 he appeared on the CBS Television anthology series Appointment with Adventure.
In 1951 Barry was hired for his first movie, in the role of Dr. Frank Addison in The Atomic City (1952). In 1953 he was cast as Dr. Clayton Forrester in the science fiction film The War of the Worlds (1953). (Much later, Barry also made a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds (2005), along with his co-star Ann Robinson from the film of 1953.)
When the situation comedy Our Miss Brooks was given a change of format in 1955, Barry was cast in a recurring role as the physical education teacher Gene Talbot, the new romantic interest of series star Eve Arden. The show was canceled in 1956, but Barry's character—a ladies' man with expensive tastes—served as the model for three shows in which he later starred.
Bat Masterson, a fictionalized recounting of the life of the real-life U.S. Marshal, gambler, and gunman (Masterson's life as a writer and bon vivant occurred long after the time-frame featured in the series) was broadcast by NBC-TV from 1958 to 1961. (In 1990 Barry recreated the role of Bat Masterson for two episodes of Guns of Paradise along with Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp and the following year in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, also with O'Brian as Wyatt Earp.)
In his next TV series, Burke's Law, Barry played a millionaire homicide investigator who was chauffeured in his Rolls-Royce as he solved crimes. This series was broadcast on ABC-TV from September 20, 1963, to May 5, 1965. For his performance in it, Barry won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1965. In 1965–66, the final season of the series, the title of the show changed to Amos Burke, Secret Agent. In 1994 a revival of the Burke's Law series returned to television for two seasons on CBS. Barry again played in the title role, this time as a widower working with his son Peter (Peter Barton). According to his co-star Gary Conway, who played Det. Tilson in the original series, the two had a lot of fun, on and off camera, despite having some difficulties with each other. After Conway left the show, he remained friends with Barry until his acting mentor's death.
Barry's third TV series was The Name of the Game, in which he played the sophisticated publisher of a family of magazines, and was one of three lead characters. The other two lead actors were Robert Stack and Tony Franciosa, who rotated with Barry week by week as the primary character in each week's program. This series was shown by NBC from 1968 to 1971. One of the magazines that Barry's character published was called People, several years before the actual People began publication.
Shortly before the filming of The Name of the Game series began, Barry played the villain—a wealthy psychiatrist—in Prescription: Murder, the two-hour TV movie that became the precursor of the TV series Columbo.
In 1972, Barry starred in the ITV television series The Adventurer, along with Barry Morse and Catherine Schell. He played Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who posed as a glamorous American movie star.
Barry returned to Broadway acting on two occasions—in 1962 in The Perfect Setup and in 1983 in the Broadway premiere of the musical La Cage aux Folles. Barry was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Georges in Cage.
For his contribution to live theatre, Gene Barry received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6555 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1975 Barry bought a home in Palm Springs, California. A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him in 1994.
Personal life
On October 22, 1944, at age 25, Barry married Betty Claire Kalb (1923–2003), whom he met on the set of Catherine Was Great. Kalb was an actress known by the stage name Julie Carson.
Death
Barry died on December 9, 2009, at Sunrise Senior Living in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 90. He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, with his wife Betty, who died in 2003.
Filmography
The Atomic City (1952) – Dr. Frank Addison
The War of the Worlds (1953) – Dr. Clayton Forrester
The Girls of Pleasure Island (1953) – Capt. Beaton
Those Redheads From Seattle (1953, filmed in 3-D) – Johnny Kisco
Alaska Seas (1954) – Verne Williams
Red Garters (1954) – Rafael Moreno
Naked Alibi (1954) – Al Willis
Soldier of Fortune (1955) – Louis Hoyt
The Purple Mask (1955) – Capt. Charles Laverne
The Houston Story (1956) – Frank Duncan
Back from Eternity (1956) – Jud Ellis
China Gate (1957) – Sgt. Brock
The 27th Day (1957) – Jonathan Clark
Forty Guns (1957) – Wes Bonell
Thunder Road (1958) – Troy Barrett
Hong Kong Confidential (1958) – Agent Casey Reed
Maroc 7 (1967) – Simon Grant
Subterfuge (1968) – Michael A. Donovan
The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974) – Jackson Sinclair, the TV Commentator
Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979) – Congressman Leo Ryan
Sahara (1983) – R.J. Gordon
War of the Worlds (2005) – Grandfather (final film role)
Television credits
Science Fiction Theatre (1955) – Joe Ferguson
Our Miss Brooks (1955–1956) – Gene Talbot
The Jane Wyman Show (1955) (Season 8 Episode 10: “Nailed Down")
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) (Season 1 Episode 3: "Triggers in Leash") - Del Delaney
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) (Season 1 Episode 6: "Salvage") - Dan Varrel
Playhouse 90 – Ain't No Time for Glory (1957) – Lt. Roy Koalton
The Walter Winchell File "The Witness" (1957) – Billy Peterson
Bat Masterson (1958–1961) – Bat Masterson
Pete and Gladys as himself in "Crossed Wires" (1961) – Himself
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 30: "Dear Uncle George") - John Chambers / Uncle George
Burke's Law (1963–1966) – Amos Burke, Secret Agent / Snooky Martinelli
Columbo: Prescription: Murder (1968)
(1968) – Michael London
The Name of the Game (1968–1971) – Glenn Howard / Will Manning
Do You Take This Stranger? (1971) – Murray Jarvis
The Devil and Miss Sarah (1971) – Rankin
The Adventurer (1972–1973) – Gene Bradley
Ransom for Alice! (1977) – Harry Darew
Aspen (1977) (miniseries) – Carl Osborne
The Feather and Father Gang – "The Apology" (March 7, 1977) – Generalis
Charlie's Angels – Angels In The Wings (November 23, 1977) – Frank Jason
A Cry for Love (1980) – Gordon Harris
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite (1981) – Andrew Stovall
The Adventures of Nellie Bly (1981) – John Cockerill
The Love Boat (1982) – Ted Anderson
Crazy Like a Fox (1984-1986) – Nicholas Roland
The Twilight Zone (1987) – Prince of Darkness
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love (1987) – Glenn Robertson
My Secret Identity (1988) – Fred Cooper / Captain Noble
Turn Back the Clock (1989) – John Forrest
Murder, She Wrote (1989) – Henry Reynard
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) – Bat Masterson
Burke's Law (1994–1995) – Chief Amos Burke
These Old Broads (2001) – Mr. Stern
References
External links
Gene Barry – Daily Telegraph obituary
1919 births
2009 deaths
Male actors from New York City
Male actors from Palm Springs, California
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male television actors
Western (genre) television actors
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish American male actors
20th-century American male actors
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
New Utrecht High School alumni
American Ashkenazi Jews
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews